Songs for stringless kites

A kite soars,
sans a string, above
crowded streets and
the wind whistles a lengthy tune,
steering it over curry leaf trees
that cough up a stiff, browning
breeze to caress its paper- mache 
cheeks, rerouting its soul
to wild, weightless worlds.

I think I can commute long distances without listening to music. I am also confident about typing a full sentence using just my big toe. But these are things I don’t want to find out. Music has, during my weekend trails, made a long-distance swimmer out of me. Only while birding for bonuses through bus windows or striking up a conversation with a passenger do I put my headphones away. I have forgotten to pack trekking shoes, towels and torchlights on several occasions; never my precious headphones.

I no longer have favorite bands or songs or albums. I have plenty of time for any form of good music . And I have playlists. They are like a favorite pillow, whether soft cushions or the gently-aching belly slopes, on which I can sleep peacefully.

A 15-track playlist for the silent bus traveler in you.

Alt J – Tessellate Llive from the Africa Centre)

M S Viswanathan & TK Ramamoorthy – Viswanathan Velai Vendum

Sigur Rós – Olsen Olsen (Live from Heima)

Hundred Waters – Down the Rafters

Ilaiyaraaja –  Punnagai Mannan Theme

Blue Man Group (feat Dave Matthews) – Sing Along

Alu – Martian Rendezvous

Patrick Watson – Lighthouse

Caribou (feat Luke Lalonde & One Little Plane) – Melody Day 

Ilaiyaraja – Background score for Pallavi Anu Pallavi

Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird

Carter Burwell – Exercise In Darkness

Rolfe Kent – Abandoning The Wedding

Ilaiyaraja – Thendral Vanthu Theendum

Branches – Chim-Chim Cheree